The White House accused United Nations staff of deliberately attempting to embarrass President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Tuesday after an escalator at UN headquarters in Manhattan suddenly stopped as soon as the couple stepped on it.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited a report from The Times that UN staff had joked about shutting down escalators and elevators as a prank on the president.
“If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately,” Leavitt posted on X.
If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately.
The Times reported this on Sunday.👇 pic.twitter.com/NitsWbGYG0
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) September 23, 2025
President Trump referenced the incident in his speech before world leaders:
“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator on the way up that stopped in the middle.
“If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen.”
NEW: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calls for investigation after a UN escalator shut off as President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stepped on.
According to The Times, UN staff members had previously "joked" about turning off the escalator.
"To mark Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/UE1AFdCn2R
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 23, 2025
Trump Takes Aim At The UN And Open Borders
Trump then delivered a sweeping address that lasted nearly an hour, blasting the UN for failing to stop global conflicts and for funding mass migration into the West.
“The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders,” Trump declared.
“They are supporting people that are illegally coming into the United States.”
“The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them,” he added, calling uncontrolled migration the “number one political issue of our time.”
Turning to Europe, Trump warned:
“Your countries are being ruined by uncontrolled immigration.
“Europe is in serious trouble.
“They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like no one has ever seen before.
“And nobody’s doing anything to change it.”
The president singled out London’s left-wing mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying the city had been “so changed” by mass migration.
“It’s not sustainable,” Trump warned.
“And because they choose to be politically correct, they’re doing absolutely nothing about it.
“I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, and it’s been so changed.
“Now they want to go to Sharia law, but you’re in a different country, you can’t do that.”
Khan’s office dismissed the remarks, but Trump made clear that uncontrolled immigration was unsustainable and destroying Western nations.
Calling Out UN Failures
Trump contrasted his record of brokering peace with the UN’s passivity.
“I ended seven wars, and in all cases, they were raging with countless thousands of people being killed.
“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them.
“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter.
“Empty words don’t solve war.”
The president listed peace deals between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Thailand, Rwanda and the DRC, and other long-standing conflicts as examples of American-led success.
Energy, Climate, And Security
Trump also slammed Europe for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, calling it “embarrassing” and urging allies to end their dependence immediately.
On climate, he reiterated his stance that global elites are using the issue as a weapon against Western prosperity.
“Climate change is the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” Trump told the Assembly.
He continued by warning against policies that devastate farmland and raise energy prices.
The president praised U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and narcoterrorist groups from Venezuela, emphasizing his commitment to keeping America safe.
He also pointed to his decision to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C., restoring order in the capital:
“DC is now a totally safe city again.
“It wasn’t politically correct, but it worked.”
Trump’s Message: Defend Sovereignty, Reject Globalism
Throughout the speech, Trump emphasized that the United States will stand as the defender of Western civilization while rejecting the failed ideologies of globalism.
“The UN has such tremendous potential,” Trump said.
“But it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
The president made clear that under his leadership, America will not follow globalist dictates that weaken borders, empower hostile regimes, or undermine national sovereignty.
READ MORE – Trump Drops the Hammer on UN Members: ‘Your Countries Are Going to Hell’
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